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1792 BCE
Code of Hammurabi
The Code of Hammurabi was a legal code developed by the Sumerians. Punishments were closely matched to crimes. However, the rank of the victim and perpetrator also determined the degree of punishment. -
700
Blood Feuds
Early people lived in clans based on family groups. If one clan member committed a crime against a member of another clan, the clans might engage in violence. -
1500
The Middle Passage
Starting in the early 1500s, African Americans were shipped across the Atlantic to the West Indies on densely packed ships, causing many to die on the voyage. The Middle Passage ended around 1860. Over two million Africans died because of The Middle Passage. -
1517
Asiento
Las Casas asked king to replace Indians with Africans, hoping it will end the Indians' suffering. The king went through with the plan. Due to his agreement, Africans were shipped at an exponential rate to North America. Slaves would go on to have a massive demographic impact on the continent. -
Indentured Servitude in the Colonies (Brandon)
Indenture was a contract between one party who became a servant to a second party for a term of usually four to seven years. Indentured servitude and its accompanying Headright System served to attract colonists to America; anyone who payed for the transport of an indentured servant's "head" to the colonies received a grant of land. Indentured servants were often caught up in the prisoner trade that also trafficked convicts and slaves. Indenture doubly populated the colonies and settled land. -
Hanging of Margaret Jones Charleston
The start of persecution of "witches" and Quakers -
First jails in the colonies
In 1662, the security of offenders who should be kept away from the rest of the society began to grow. Public prisons became a staple for every colony. The evolution of prisons and jails in the colonies grew so immensely that there were more of them than there were schools. Eventually every county was supposed to have its own jailhouse. -
Bacon's Rebellion
The largest rebellion of servants in an English colony -
Bacon's Rebellion
Bacon's Rebellion, led by Nathaniel Bacon, was the biggest rebellion that the colonies had seen up tot this point in time. It was led by Virginia settlers, and they were going against the law and the governor himself, William Berkley. This was the time when slaves were being put into practice instead of servants. Freemen and low class people did not advance in society like they thought they would. -
John Law Settles Louisiana (Brandon)
John Law, a Scottish entrepreneur, won favor with France's leaders through gambling, and he obtained for himself the task of developing and populating France's idle Louisiana territory, which he did using a method favored by Britain: the forced transfer of convicts and vagrants. The first inhabitants of Louisiana were gleamed from France's jails and hospitals. They included murderers, prostitutes, and drunkards. This sort of prisoner trade was entrenched in America's early development. -
Impressment
Hundreds of people were kidnapped from their lives in Europe and taken to America as indentured servants. This case went unnoticed until 1753 when Quarter Sessions freed a girl, Anne Dempsey, from her servitude. Other cases then became noticed and those servants were freed over time. Impressment and military conscription were major problems of the time for this forming country. -
Pardoning of English Criminals (Brandon)
To populate its American colonies with laborers, Britain exiled convicts. Pardons were granted frequently to criminals who were deemed fit to labor on plantations or build infrastructure. The majority of men condemned to death in 18th century England did not hang; they were instead sent to America. British judges and magistrates prided themselves on being merciful and reformative, but in reality the "saved" convicts, if they survived the journey, were destined for deathly working conditions. -
Depression of 1760's
During this time a philadelphian jail house was overcrowded, and conditions had deteriorated so much that concerned residents gave donations to keep the inmates alive. -
Prison Ships
Tested in London, these ships were decommisioned hospital ships used to hold convicts. While the ships were equipped with proper supplies, the inmates lived in cramped, solitary confinement. The HMS Jersey was the most infamous ship. It was designed for a 400 man crew but held over 1000 inmates.
Garret Hickman -
Makeshift Prisons
As the American war for independence began, both sides needed locations to store the ever expanding tide of prisoners of war. As a result, churches and old ships were hollowed out and converted into prisons. This meant that they were poorly made and kept, which led to the death toll of prisons exceeding the death toll of the battlefront. -
Chain Gangs
The representation of prisoners changed at the conclusion of the Revolutionary war as a means to countermand any further revolt. Rather than being confined within a building or working an isolated plantation, the convicts were chained together and sent through the bustling streets of the nearest town to work. The initial humiliation was enough for some of the men to beg for execution in exchange for enduring embarassment. -
Slavery as Punishment
In order to provide a somewhat early abolitionist ground for the weak central government of the United States, older methods were briefly reimbursed as a stopgap to the flow of inmates. Thus, the Northwest Order allowed for slavery to serve as an alternative form of punishment for major crimes. This appeased southern plantation owners in the west as it provided servant labor to produce goods. Alternatively, it supported northern efforts to remove convicts from overcrouded eastern prisons. -
Fugitive Slave Act
This act denied escaped slaves protection, right to a jury trial, or to testify. Any one who helped protect a slave could be fined or sent to prison. This was to help slave owners regain their property. -
New York State Prison
New York saw its first state prison east of the Hudson River. The first prisoners were commited in 1797. Prisoners were expected to remain clean and to folow the rules. Punishment included only solitary confinement.
Garret Hickman -
Rachel Welch Scandal
Rachel Welch was an Irish immigrant who had been sentenced shortly after arriving in the country. She died and in her autopsy they found that she had been impregnated and beaten, even though state law forbade the flogging of women. The culprit of her demise worked within the prison and when it was discovered what he done, he was fined $25, but allowed to keep his job. -
Dred Scott v. Sandford
Dred Scott fought for his freedom when he and his slave owner moved to a free state. Dred Scott could not be freed because of the Missouri Compromise. John Emerson got to keep his slave because Congress had no power to prohibit slavery in federal territories. -
The Civil War
This is the date that the Civil War first began due to a Northern firing at the south. This war lasted for four years and was basically a battle between the North and the South. There is some controversy about why the war truly started, but it is clear to see that slavery is a huge factor. During this time, prisoners were predominately white (prisoners of war).
-Tayla Hunter -
The Thirteenth Amendment
The Secretary of State certifies the 13th amendment as part of the constitution of the United States of America. All slaves in the U.S. are now free by law. The Civil War soon will come to an end and leave the South in pieces of rubble. Most prisoners of war, including Jefferson Davis, are released without trial for war crimes. (Jensen Thomassie) -
Age of Great Immigration
This was a period from 1870 to 1920 that brought a great deal of influence to the United States and to the prisons in America. For starters, immigrants started populating prisons--not necessarily because they were committing crimes, but because laws targeted them. In addition, immigrants bought the idea of using prisons as laboratories which led to things like fingerprinting and vasectomies.
-Tayla Hunter -
Elmira Reformatory
Zebulon R. Brockway wanted prisons to be institutions that were like colleges or hospitals, so he took his reformist ideals to Elmira Prison, which had been a large Union prison camp in the Civil War. Elmira ranked each invididual's progress, and the inmates could be promoted or demoted depending on how they were behaving. Eventually convict later was thought of as wrong, and Elmira became a military centered institution where inmates would learn war tactics and discipline.
(Jensen Thomassie) -
Margaret Sanger Imprisoned for Promoting Birth Control
On October 16, 1916, Margaret opened the first birth control clinic in America. She was arrested for "providing contraceptive information". She was bailed out of jail but was immediately arrested after for the same reason and was sentenced to 30 days in prison. While in prison, she witnessed the terrible conditions of the women's prison compared to their male counterparts and that the males also received many more privileges such as tobacco and newspapers.
(Gabe France) -
"Free Tom Mooney"
In 1916, Tom Mooney was accused and imprisoned for the Preparedness Day Bombing in San Francisco. Because of his heavy socialist political views, Mooney was wrongly accused and imprisoned for year in which he suffered many illnesses which affected his life after prison. In 1939, Tom Mooney was pardoned by California governor, Culbert L. Olson. He was officially freed from prison after 22 and a half years. He passed away three years after his release.
(Gabe France) -
Congress Passes Sedition Law
In 1918, Congress established a law very similar to the Alien and Sedition Act in which it was lawfully just to deport anyone with objectionable views. This was specifically targeted towards Communists in the United States because of the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the U.S. Department of Justice began rounding up radicals. J. Edgar Hoover had started to become more prominent and would continue deporting people up until the 60s and 70s.
(Gabe France) -
Alabama Becomes the Last State to Ban Convict Leasing
Convict leasing was the labor of prison inmates that forwarded pay to the penitentary. It allowed prisons to make profit off of the plethera of inmates that they rented out for labor. This is generally accepted as the last remnant of slavery. The convicts were treated horribly and often abused, as one Louisiana prison official spoke on the topic at the time, "[T]hese convicts, we don't own them. So, one dies, we get another."
(Jensen Thomassie) -
The Black Muslims form
After the jail system fails and incarcerates hundreds of people, a new religion, the Black Muslims, forms which brings religion to these people in prison. Prisoners who were usually mean and tough now had a religion to follow and believe. They no longer were as violent and the African American communities in prisons now had a religion!
(Gabe Becker) -
The Prison Community is released
The first major sociological description of prison life is realized. This book details events that took place in prison like it never had before, and spelled out for the common man how and why prison systems work (or rather, don't work).
-(Gabe Becker) -
The Prisoner's Rights Movement
Before this period of reform, prisoners were not guaranteed any of the rights as that were written in the constitution. They had no right to representation, freedom of speech or religion, and they could not vote.This all came to end after numerous convicts began to challenge the system and take the government to court.The series of court cases established that prisoners should have the same rights as their counterparts on the outside. (Jasmine Williams) -
Attica Prison Revolt
On a Thursday morning at Attica Prison, five inmates were passing through the A Block tunnel and a lieutenant was struck down. This led to others jumping their keepers and causing a riot. Inmates grabbed clubs ad keys from downed officers and released inmates from their cells. The rioters progressed through the prison and within minutes 1300 prisoners were attempting to break free.They took hostages and submitted their demands, but their riot came to a bloody end and 43 were killed. (Jasmine W.) -
New Mexico State Penitentiary Riot
Unlike the previous revolts, this riot was filled with days of violence and brutality. A mob of prisoners broke into the prison control center and performed horrifying acts of violence. Men were burned to death with blowtorches, mutilated, and decapitated. Although it was more violent than Attica, the riot was taken down without a single shot being fired. Although it did not receive mass media attention, it confirmed the idea that prisoners were wild animals in the minds of many. (Jasmine W.)
